Long Beach Needs A Hospital!! (Guest Author)

I felt it was necessary for me to write to you with the hope you will post this important issue.

This past Saturday, a friend and I were bicycling on Shore Road and Magnolia. We came across an older woman who was face down on the sidewalk. She was unresponsive and bleeding from her face. I assume she was in shock.

Luckily the LB Police were patrolling nearby and came to assist. They immediately called for an ambulance which arrived within 5 minutes. A passerby who happened to be a trained paramedic also came to her aid. Her grandson was there. The woman received medical attention and was transferred to the ambulance.

I asked the ambulance driver which hospital will she be taken to as we don’t have a hospital in Long Beach? HE REPLIED “ I GUESS SOUTH NASSAU.”

Both my friend and I were very disturbed.

A separate incident:

My neighbor’s son was hurt over the weekend and needed medical attention. He told me they went to the clinic in the west end and it was closed!

Please post this on your site. Hopefully other’s will share their experiences to motivate our community leaders to build a desperately needed hospital in our hometown!

I think the hospital was fixed. But then it was decided it wasn’t profitable. Then forced into bankruptcy (who got stuck and for how much – I’d like to know). Then forced into partnership with a profitable hospital. And now that hospital has decided our hospital is not fixed good enough. And now over $100M is coming to our hospital from FEMA (about $10M was still not paid for the repairs), but maybe not? Maybe that FEMA money (that’s flood money) will not end up in Long Beach? Really?
Can someone explain?

You are so right Marisa. I don’t think we will see a change until prospective tenants look at renting LB’s upcoming twin towers. They want to attract urban folks without cars – but that demographic won’t feel comfortable without a hospital close by.

Jeffrey, you say LB needs a hospital ASAP. Well we’ve been without LBMC for over a year and a half, where’s the evidence that supports your assertion? That hospital was a failure on many levels. Should LB have an ambulance receiving urgent care facility? Looks like we do. Do we have a fleet of ambulances that can provide advanced cardiac care? Yes. Can the emergency services arrange helicopter airlift in extreme medical emergecies as they always have? Yes. Can those first responders and police use their high tech communication capabilities to keep bridges open and the route to S. Nassau ready for extra fast transport? Yes. And what reopening a private hospital with a pretty poor patient care history, that was bleeding debt, has to do with rebuilding our boardwalk continues to be a mystery to me. The stories reported above don’t support the need for a hospital in LB. In one case an ambulance arrived in 5 minutes and the woman was stabilized and brought to SN. In the other, non emergency in that an ambulance was not necessary, someone went to a clinic that was closed. Inconvenient but not evidence for the argument.

I would love to know why a resident is so against having a hospital on a barrier island. Are you immune to heart attack or stroke? Good for you – I’m not. What is supposed to happen when the bridge is up? How will your emergency lane clearance work in that situation? I have read your posts before and cannot fathom your opinion. Do you work for SNCH management? You have an interest in NOT having a hospital, and that is suspect.

A woman was facedown on the sidewalk, did she die traveling to south nassau? No, so then why do we need one? Did your friends son who needed medical attention break his arm or implode? No, so then why did it matter that he had to spend an extra 10 minutes in the car?

None of this logic makes sense. Everyone is complaining that we need a hospital, WHY? If you are in a life threatening situation would you have wanted to be treated by the poor hospital care at LBMC?

How long is the Long Beach bridge up for ever? 10 minutes max? You do realize the ambulances can make sure that the bridge is down right? The chances of a medical emergency happening when the bridge is up seems so highly unlikely. If you have a stroke or a heart attack, an ambulance will be just as safe as an emergency room for an additional 10 minutes. South nassau is a great hospital, LB was an awful hospital.

Why doesn’t everyone stop playing follow the leader and start looking at facts. Don’t come up with creative situations that might happen if we do not have a hospital and try to analyze how many people have died in the past year because they were forced to go to south nassau.

Wake up people. We don’t NEED a hospital. Was it convenient? Yes. Necessary? No.

Are you a resident? What is your interest in not having a hospital? Real Estate; SNCH Budget Committee? LBMC wasn’t the best – agreed. We now have a chance to build something better. We need a hospital. The bridge does go up – traffic is horrendous. The stress on our emergency personnel is ridiculous. We are on a barrier island, or haven’t you noticed.

Yes I am a resident and I have noticed our barrier island Lori, I am just still curious as to WHY we need one. You give a lot of reasons that don’t justify spending $100 million to fix a decaying building on a massively huge piece of waterfront property.

Yes the bridge goes up and down. Did you know that traffic lights also turn red and green? What if youre in the west end and you need to go to point lookout? Should we build an express lane because you cant handle a little bit of traffic?

Your points are all extremely vague and unjustified. Keep drinking that juice Lori, you’re part of the reason this town gets nothing productive done.

I’m drinking juice? I’m unproductive? You are the one who doesn’t want a hospital here. You are in the minority. Are you getting a piece of the Fema $$? You are more interested in the waterfront property than healthcare, so you are likely a realtor. They are all snakes anyway. Why won’t you answer these questions? Why are you against us having a hospital? All you say is we don’t need one, and I’m vague? You are a nasty fk.

WE DONT NEED A HOSPITAL. So far, none of your points make it clear on why we do. I just think there are more important issues. We don’t need a failing business to continue to bleed money. I am not a realtor but a recently graduated student. I think that houses on the water or maybe a restaurant or two would be much more amazing then a hospital that fails to meet standards and continues to lose money. Don’t you get how business’s operate? They don’t care about what you think they just need to be profitable or at the very least, useful. The only purpose LBMC served was the emergency room anyway. If I needed healthcare, LBMC would be the last place I would go.

Yes Lori, you are unproductive. Instead of just slamming your head into the wall and blindly decreeing that we need a hospital, make some useful points that cannot be argued. All of the points you have made so far are full of holes.

You need to read the on point comments Lori. Then you need to answer the questions posed by Follow the Blind. You are the one who ought to answer the question “Do you work for the cronies who ran that dysfunctional place formerly known as LBMC?” But I will not demand you do. I, for one, support any steps that will improve the viability and sustainability of our national health care requirements going forward. I’m a retired baby boomer. I’m concerned about younger generations being stuck with the debt generated by not cutting the fat where it makes sense to as my generation places extraordinary stress on the system.

LBMC was not a good hospital – agreed. But we do need a real 24 hr. emergency room – Fema has provided $100MM+ to fix that decaying building – here in Long Beach. Obviously the State of NY believes healthcare to be necessary.

We are already overdeveloped, and you are a student – so you must be young and indestructible?
Do you stand to profit personally from bay development?
Are you a doctor who has determined we don’t need a hospital? I doubt it –

You won’t listen to anyone’s arguments. We are a barrier island – which in itself is important and restrictive. We don’t need more residents, restaurants, more traffic and parking issues. There will be plenty of those when the new twin towers are built.

You don’t have to like my point of view – but realize you are in a small minority of folks who don’t want a hospital, and I still believe you stand to profit somehow by the sale of this property.

Nope, never worked for LBMC or in any medical field. Just a resident, like many, who feels we need a hospital or 24 hour emergency care. You being a retired baby boomer, are so generous putting your own health at risk to help the younger generation save $$. LBMC is a dead issue, so stop using their losses to justify your position.

SNCH is quite a profitable organization and the State of NY has given them $$ to rebuild here. A new facility could create jobs. Now wouldn’t that help the youth of America.

The state determined we need a hospital on this barrier island – who are you to disagree? – why do you have an issue with that at all? Because somehow, you profit from SNCH selling bayfront property or are involved with real estate somehow.

I don’t care how you twist my words – you are a better wordsmith than I am. Just answer my questions. Can you do straight talk?

I would love to profit from the sale of that property, but unfortunately I am not going to.

While I may feel indestructible, I am simply making a point here. You do not have a decent argument for needing a hospital. We are a barrier island with 3 bridges and many places to land a helicopter. . South nassau is 14 minutes away. You act like we live on an island in the middle of the ocean! What is restrictive? Get out of long beach and see that the world does exist in other places. I had to drive 10 minutes to the hospital at school with a bleeding knee to get stitches. Just because it was close, it still took me 3 hours to be seen. I’m listening to all your arguments you’re just not making any.

You don’t think we need more restaurants? There are very few decent restaurants in this town. Sugo, Corazon de Cuba, and maybe a couple others.

Am I a doctor? No, but a doctor doesn’t really have any say in city development. I don’t care if I am in the minority, doesn’t make what I am saying any less right Lori.

You’re not even making a point Lori. The question Follow The Blind is posing, is ‘Why we need a hospital.’ Saying, “The state determined we need a hospital on this barrier island” is the same as saying, “I killed a bunch of people because Allah told me to.”

Tell us why. No one is trying to twist your words. And no one is profiting, just simply trying to have a solid debate.

You keep saying we need a hospital but your only reason is ‘becasue they said so.’

Why don’t you tell us why you need a hospital, other than you simply cannot travel 15 minutes to the nearest one.

These aren’t even remotely comparable. The boardwalk brings in revenue, tourists, and promotes activities. Theres hospital in Oceanside that does everything ours did and more. There is no where else to get a boardwalk and yes that is a bigger priority then a shitty hospital

You are so wrong. I hope you are not a student working with city planning. I have lived in many places, including in the city where hospitals are everywhere. You think the city urbanites they expect to rent the luxury towers are going to feel warm and cozy without a hospital? We need 24 hour emergency care. Apparently, you have never been sick or stuck in summer traffic over/on the bridge. Have you spoken to the ambulance drivers? 14 minutes? See if they agree. Hope you don’t get food poisoning in the new restaurant. And you are right, you most definitely are a student. You have lots to learn.

You still have yet to make a point. Get your head out of your ass and start learning facts. who goes to the hospital for food poisoning? There are these great new professionals called private doctors, and fun fact – theres nothing you can do for food poisoning.

Hospitals make you feel warm and cozy? The only, ONLY point you could have made (which your stupidity did not allow for) is if someone is drowning and needs to be rushed to the emergency room. However, if I am not mistaken, they usually airlift people like that because our hospital just wasn’t good enough.

Make a point Lori. I want to be proven wrong but youre not giving me anything other than, “well we need it”. WHY! You don’t think those towers will sell because there’s not a hospital? You better get ready to have 1000 new neighbors.

I have been sick in the summer and I go to the doctor, not the emergency room. Maybe you a peasant who cannot afford healthcare but that is a completely different argument completely. Stop wasting the ERs time with food poisoning.

And correct me if I am wrong, but wouldnt you say that 8am-9pm is pretty much the only time frame in which we have traffic in Long Beach? I bet it would take you under 14 minutes in an ambulance at 4am.

Make a point lori, educate yourself and stop being such a hard headed idiot. Or prove me wrong because if you have a rational argument I will admit my defeat in seconds. Otherwise do us all a favor and shut your mouth

First of all, watch your mouth. You don’t like my points, so be it. There are many who disagree, but nothing will dissuade you from your point of view. The state decided we need a hospital here. That is why they provided $122MM+. And you know better than the state? You’ve been sick in the summer? Ever have a stroke, heart attack, been — be thankful you didn’t need emergency care. You have elderly parents? Kids who have diseases? There are many life threatening ailments besides the ones I describe. Drowning is just one. And I am not a peasant, have lived many places, don’t drink the juice and am not a bitch, or stupid. Here I thought you were literate, but really, is that the best you can do? 14 minutes at 4am? Reasonable… Ask
those ambulance drivers if that 14 minute drive time is applicable between 8am – 9pm as you suggest. City people won’t move here. I suggest you get out of Long Beach more often… But you’re still young…

Just because LB has been without a hospital for a year and a half is not a valid reason for not having a new up to date financially stable facility. Having grown up in LB and having my entire family treated at one time or another at LBMC with good patient care. Sorry you had a bad experience with the care, that can be fixed. Depending on mechanical methods in an emergency (Sandy) would have not been much help. If money is the issue than organize and get it collected. The Boardwalk is beautiful, if we did that we can do a medical facility. We’re not in the 19th C. any longer and the community deserves better than wondering, where will I get help. Because you and others perceive the earlier hospital was run poorly, here’s the chance to correct past errors and have a healthier, better health maintenance service. Please think about this. Thanks.

Of course I agree. I was told about it earlier, but really haven’t been able to catch up with this thread until now.

Folks, the name calling and unnecessary words have to stop. Yes it is possible to have a civilized conversation on whether or not a hospital is needed. Calling people names isn’t exactly the best way to debate on a topic. If it continues, I’ll have to lock the thread.

So sad this thread devolved. One last point offered with respect… Lori, I am not ” so generous putting my own health at risk to help the younger generation save $$”. Me, my wife, and large extended family in LB all feel very safe living in a community that has extremely fast, highly professional EMS equipted with ambulances that are essentially advanced cardiac care units on wheels. Our regional emergency services are second to none in this country, able to airlift, keep bridges closed and provide police escort when required. I don’t think anyone can show that we have been impacted in any significant way since LBMC’s closing, and thus you rely on generalizations and old recommendations. Lori, I live down the block from the former LBMC and I’ve got to tell you, it was convenient and felt good to rush my wife there some 20 years ago when she got her finger caught in the garage door. But had LBMC not been there, I’d have called 911 and had top quality EMS handling the situation without blood stains on my car seats. Meanwhile we have a health care crisis in this nation (that you seem unaware of) that requires new strategies to deliver quality care by cutting unnecessary costs and centralizing access. A 911 receiving ER/urgent care center with transport to specialized high level care makes sense for LB. I think everyone in LB should feel lucky to have access to such fine EMS, appropriate urgent care options, and extraordinary specialized care hospitals(when required in the NY Metro area). Being part of the solution to our health care cost crisis means being willing to acknowledge the sensible protocols for obtaining care. I’m truly sorry you feel the way you do, but feelings are not a sound basis for thoughtful rational policy, nor is some 2006 recommendation. Since you have accused people who have made sound arguments that you don’t agree with of having some kind of financial gain motive , I’ll just restate that I certainly don’t… but I do have 8 family members living in LB, and would never support a policy that put them at risk. Enough from me.

Senator Schumer has allowed 139 million FEMA dollars [according to the May 18th Newsday article] to be given to South Nassau Community Hospital [SNCH} to do with as they please.Richard Murphy. CEO of SNCH. has already said that a portion of that money will be invested to expand the Oceanside medical campus. Originally, FEMA designated that money for the City of Long Beach to open a much needed hospital.

SNCH was able to secure, through bankruptcy, all that belonged to LBMC for under12 million dollars, including its 23 parcels of land, 6.6 million dollars from NYS to transition LBMC to an emergency facility plus 139 million FEMA dollars. What will the City of Long Beach get in return?

Note the high density of the Long Beach population -15,667 per square mile versus 4.621 per square mile throughout Nassau County.

• The over 65 population on the barrier island is 18.5% versus only 14.3% for the rest of the SNCH catchment area. This indicates a dense, vulnerable population which must be treated locally; transportation over a bridge is not tolerable.

I break my promise of enough to say thanks for the data. Cherry picked and loaded as it seems to be, it still does not respond to the points I have made about impact to access of emergency care and proof of any real danger to barrier island residents since LBMC closure. Economic impact, absolutely, but hospitals aren’t established to create jobs in specific communities and if that is the real concern here, let’s say so and not suggest that the closing has put lives at risk. Transportation over a bridge not tolerable? Really? 4400 jobs lost? I’d love to see how that calculation was arrived at because it seems inflated. Number of ER visits? How many were appropriate versus unnecessarily costly and inefficient use of ER? Number of physicians in LB down? Yes, the hospital closed, but what makes 84 the optimal number of physicians? Stephen, you make it seem like LBMC was a necessary thriving hospital before Sandy, but its NYS report card grades were among the worst and my last visit there before Sandy revealed an institution with significant patient vacancies and an almost palpable feel of dysfunction (of course, this was my unprofessional impression). What makes you think reopening it would change any of that or its financial bleeding? FEMA called LBMC “a much needed hospital”? Then where is FEMA now and why has Schumer betrayed the community’s needs? Stephen, I want thoughtful streamlined health care reform, nothing more or less. I think these new walk in clinics that have opened in LB will provide necessary alternative to ER visits for Long Beach residents and Medicaid recipients. I think Able Ride and other services must be bolstered to provide transport to hospital based non emergency services.I would support any argument to hold SNCH’s feet to the fire to provide the quality emergency care the transition money was meant for. And having been laid off twice in my life, I feel for those who lost their jobs and hope that the demand for health care professionals will enable them to find new, better jobs. We can’t expect to tackle the gigantic challenge of rising health care costs as a nation by expecting uncomfortable but necessary change to only happen in a place called “Somewhere Else”. I’ve said more than my two cents here, thanks for reading it.

Glad your wife’s finger turned out ok, and it was nothing life threatening. We need a hospital, or at least 911 24/hr. care. There are life threatening conditions like strokes, heart attacks and much more where every minute counts. You want to close Mercy because its close to South Nassau, or close some of the North Shore hospitals close in proximity to each other. Obviously they are a waste of $$. Lower the health care costs there. Leave Long Beach alone. I’m sorry you, as a resident don’t see the need or care that others do. I hope that you never experience anything more serious than the bloody finger you spoke of earlier. And that 15 minute ride everyone claims, is a lot longer and in an emergency every minute counts. I cannot live on a barrier island without close proximity to health care. LBMC is over – bankrupt – its up to SNCH. They were given the $$ and must be accountable to Long Beach. And I am really tired of being insulted on this website. I just pray your opinion is not representative of the city council, and so do 30,000 other people on this island.

Very few, if any, are saying that “LBMC”, in its old form, should be re-opened. It is being suggested that a full service hospital be returned to the barrier island. The 2006 Berger Commission Report should not be taken lightly. It was a comprehensive, independent study that looked at all NY hospitals. The finding were conclusive. There is absolutely no reason to bring up the past. We are well aware of the pervasive feelings of poor quality of service and lack of quality administration and governing board of trustees that was the old LBMC. With SNCH as the new owner, a new board of trustees that should include representatives from the LB civic associations, and intelligent and well planned designs going forward, Long Beach can have a profitable, full service hospital. Using the old model and reputation as talking points is fruitless. It equates to blaming Bush and Carter for today’s foreign policy decisions or saying “Nixon did it too you know”. The ER in the LBMC building is ready to go. The x-ray, MRI, dialysis machines, etc were unaffected by the storm. Over 20 million was spent to move the mechanicals from the basement. 130 + million is allocated from FEMA for re-opening/repairs. The Non-Profit LBMC was given a tax abatement all these years. You, me, all the residents paid for that. In my mind that makes it ours, not legally, but morally. It was a community asset that was taken away. We are about to watch the FEMA funds be drained into Oceanside.

I breake my promise again to offer 3 points:
Stephen, you haven’t responded to even one of my questions or arguments, not one. To suggest the 2006 Berger Report is the final word on this issue (“It was a comprehensive, independent study that looked at all NY hospitals. The finding were conclusive.”) is specious, at best. SNCH bought LBMC, assets and debts with the blessings of Sen. Schumer and other elected reps. To suggest that “with SNCH as the new owner, a new board of trustees that should include representatives from the LB civic associations, and intelligent and well planned designs going forward, Long Beach can have a profitable, full service hospital.’ is simplistic and worrisome. Reps from LB civic associations? Many neighborhoods (mine) don’t have civic associations, nor could anyone vouch for the knowledge or expertise of their reps to sit on a BofD. No one can show that LB can have a profitable, full service hospital, that is why no one bid on the place accept SNCH.
Point two: my comment above (“I think these new walk in clinics that have opened in LB will provide necessary alternative to ER visits for Long Beach residents and Medicaid recipients.”) may not be correct. Today’s NYT notes that hedge funds plowing money into “urgent care” businesses like the fact that, unlike ER’s, they can reject Medicaid patients. Nevertheless, using ER for basic care is inefficient and very costly.
Point three: m, follow the blind ought to be censured for lack of civility, but inefficient health care delivery is not a local issue, it is a national one that good citizens everywhere ought to take interest in.

This explains it all – he is a recent grad and CLUELESS! Dont waste your time with this naive recently proclaimed educated (using the term loosely here) person whose sole interest is in restaurants and bars! Do you have a job yet since you know how businesses run. Oh and by the way a hospital is a business. What a joke! BY THE WAY -your sentence should read a recent college graduate not graduated student. You need English 101.

can we please just agree that one (boardwalk and hospital) has absolutely nothing to do with the other? I understand this is an emotionally charged issue, but funding for the boardwalk came from a different pot of money and our city government has little more than a bully pulpit from which to advocate for the hopsital’s re-opening. the boardwalk, however, they had control over. If we waited to do anything with the boardwalk until after the hospital was open (again, an issue beyond the control of our city) we’d be sitting here today with no hospital AND no boardwalk.

again, i get this is an emotionally charged issue, but throwing out false choices and other suppositions gets us absolutely nowhere…maybe even worse than nowhere. if you care about this issue, tell the state to expedite the approval of the now urgent care facility’s transition into a 911 ambulance receiving facility. then, hold south nassau’s feet to the fire to ensure the facility is open 24-7 and can deal with whatever the critical needs of our community are. make sure they spend every dollar they were giving to the benefit of south shore residents and demand that you’re state representatives hold them accountable for as much.

We want a real hospital no treatment on wheels. And why should we hold South Nassau’s feet to the fire, it’s not their responsibility to care for LB residents. Let’s follow the appropriate channels and get a new hospital for LB. We need it, not a replacement of the old problems, but a new beginning with new staff and management. Don’t follow the old and gone example, create a new venue, which we can be proud of and get good medical care.

I’m not an expert but it seems to my laymans eye that a 24 hour, full service ER is needed. Transport to Oceanside after stabilization will be available.
Am I correct that SN got all the money, all the property and for that they are providing a limited facility with shorter hours than the beer distributor?
Shorter hours on the weekends than weekdays?
And why is a nonresident chiming in and devoting so much time to this debate?

We should hold South Nassau’s feet to the fire because they accepted the FEMA money, designated to REPLACE the hospital services we had previous to Sandy. Just as we now have a new and improved boardwalk, we should have new and improved 24/7 medical care, out patient services, testing facilities, imaging facilities and ER as we had before Sandy.

The problem with LBMC prior to the storm was the management. They were either inept or shady or some combination of both. I actually worked for a consulting firm that offered them several reports detailing how they could improve their financial picture. To my knowledge, they implemented none of the suggestions….for which they paid us.

I recently had the misfortune to be transported by ambulance from central LB to SNCH early evening with minimal traffic and it took considerably more than 14 minutes to get there, more like 30. I can’t see why they are so touted, the care was no better than acceptable in most areas and downright unimpressive in others. My friends and family had to make much more of an effort to get there to visit, and those who don’t drive found it too difficult. That should be a concern considering the number of elderly or financially unstable residents we have.

And finally, LBMC served patients from Atlantic Beach as well as Point Lookout, so their travel times are even greater.

I hate to be rude, but the arguments any of you have posed for not having a real hospital on the barrier island sound like they were crafted by the same mindset that shut down the Federal government. There is a big difference between being fiscally prudent and refusing to spend money to help people more needy than you.

C Peck, you have not really read the arguments if you come away with that conclusion, that anyone who has questioned the need for a full time hospital is simply selfish or a Tea Bagger. This progressive questions duplication of services and decision making by emotion. No one, NO ONE, has yet to provide a factual argument that the lack of a full time hospital over the past year and a half has harmed anyone. No, you made it to SNCH, you are OK, but we shouldn’t build a hospital in LB to make it more convenient for you family to visit you.It would be nice, but not prudent. Call me hard hearted. I do very much agree with Beachguy when he says: “I’m not an expert but it seems to my laymans eye that a 24 hour, full service ER is needed. Transport to Oceanside after stabilization will be available.” That seems to be the one thing that causes sensible concern, the need for a full time ER. But I wonder if the cases covered since Sandy support that need. I wonder why those who are so adamant about the need for a full service hospital can’t recite case and point of compromised ER care over that period due to no ER in LB.

4400 jobs lost? I’d love to see how that calculation was arrived at because it seems inflated.
Answer – Findings of the Long Island Regional Advisory Committee, October 2006 “The direct effect of hospital employment is that each Long Island hospital worker supports 2.2076 jobs throughout the Long Island economy”.
Number of primary jobs lost approximately 1,400
Secondary jobs lost assuming 2.2076(7) secondary jobs lost/primary job3091. That gives total jobs lost = 4490

Number of ER visits? How many were appropriate versus unnecessarily costly and inefficient use of ER?
Answer – You said it yourself, the system is broken. What are the 10.2% of the Long Beach residents that live in poverty to do? Urgent Care facilities are not taking Medicare is many circumstances.
Number of physicians in LB down? Yes, the hospital closed, but what makes 84 the optimal number of physicians?
Answer – The Association of American Medical Colleges, Mississippi, the state with the lowest ratio of doctors has 159.4 per 100,000 people (or .159%)
Long Beach now has 50 per 38,840 (.125%) Winter population. 50 per 100,000 Summer Weekend population(.05%) Welcome to Sub-Saharan Africa.

What makes you think reopening it would change any of that or its financial bleeding?
Answer – New Management, New Board of Trustees. Do we really have to go there? Someone could write their dissertation on the patronage and corruption without even hinting at its reputation. As I understand it, LBMC was losing about 2 million annually for last several years before Sandy. That equate to about 2 percent of their operating budget. Some Hospitals around the state, including Brooklyn, were losing 12-14 per month and kept open.

FEMA called LBMC “a much needed hospital”? Then where is FEMA now and why has Schumer betrayed the community’s needs?
Answer – Schumer will be there for the photo-op in Oceanside for the grand opening of a new wing of SNCH or its expanded ER built with the 139 MILLION MEANT FOR LONG BEACH. Don’t you worry about that. Long Beach is meaningless to Schumer. He’ll carry the State in the election regardless. LB is such an apathetic town, even when it comes to voting in elections, that we are insignificant. However, in deference to the Senator, his office is probably not even aware of the Berger Report, and is more than likely aware that Cuomo wants to close Hospitals around NYS.

Transportation over a bridge not tolerable? Really?
Answer – Sort through this while remembering all the times they get stuck in the open position.
From 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays from May 15 through September 30, the draw need be opened only on the hour and half hour
(e) The draw of the Atlantic Beach Bridge across Reynolds Channel, mile 0.4, shall open on signal—

(1) From October 1 through May 14;
(2) From May 15 through September 30, except that it need be opened only on the hour and half-hour from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day; and
(3) From May 15 through September 30, from two hours before to one hour after predicted high tide. Predicted high tide occurs 10 minutes earlier than that predicted for Sandy Hook, as given in the tide table published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(f) The draw of the Loop Parkway Bridge across Long Creek, mile 0.7, shall open on signal every other hour on the even hour; except that, from April 1 through October 31 on Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal holidays, the draw shall open on signal every three hours beginning at 3 a.m. If an opening is desired at other than a scheduled time, notice may be given from the telephone located on either side of the bridge or via marine radiotelephone.
(g) The draw of the Long Beach Bridge across Reynolds Channel, mile 4.7, shall open on signal; except that:
(1) From midnight to 8 a.m. year-round, the draw shall open on signal if at least four hours notice is given; and
(2) From 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays from May 15 through September 30, the draw need be opened only on the hour and half hour.
(3) From 10 p.m. to midnight on July 3 each year the draw need not open for the passage of vessel traffic.
(h) The draw of the Meadowbrook State Parkway Bridge, mile 12.8, across Sloop Channel, shall open on signal if at least a one-half hour notice is given to the New York State Department of Transportation, as follows:
(1) Every other hour on the even hour.
(2) From April 1 through October 31, on Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal holidays, every three hours beginning at 1:30 a.m. Notice may be given from the telephone located at the moorings on each side of the bridge or by marine radio.
(3) From 9 p.m. to midnight, on the Fourth of July, the Meadowbrook State Parkway Bridge need not open for the passage of vessel traffic.

Again I address @ Trying to make sense. You seem to be critical of people’s opinions simply because they can’t produce facts that you want. How much fact finding have you done yourself on the Hospital? How many questions have you raised that you’ve exhausted your own due diligence in trying to find answers to for before accusing others of not knowing? Here’s a fun tidbit for you-
Long Beach actually meets the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration criteria to be a MUA and MUP (Medically Under-served Area, Medically Under-served Population). If you really need me to show you the numbers I will. Till then, you just have to trust me.

How do WE hold South Nassau’ s feet to the fire? The apathy of this community especially the parents of our children is frightening. Where is the outrage ? The Government promises LB 139 million dollars to build a new Medical Facility HERE . We have no assurance of anything more than an Urgent Care and no active Parent group takes them on. They blithely send their children to the many camps, including surfer camps, swimming in the Ocean , Concerts and Movies on the Beach, with no Emergency room , an overextended Emergency response team an increase in population , excessive traffic , joy at the huge turnouts and obliviousness to the danger. Put South Nassau’ s feet to the fire. I don’t think so. .

Again I say Where i s the outrage? We all vent on Facebook and Blogs, get it off our chests and go on with our lives. Make phone calls, write letters, post signs put down your computers and get involved. Contact Beachtobaycentralcouncil ask for a lawn sign. Sign a petition Make Phone calls. The powers that be don’t follow you on Social Media. Your venting is the Proverbial p—–g in the Wind. Get vocal, get visible ,get active. Bombard your elected officials with your outrage and pray they respond before the Next Tragedy.

Dear Jeffery no ambulance or EMT can declare a person dead, they must enter an Emergency room somewhere . in order for fDoctor to declare than dead. We will never know how many people died en route. Even more importantly. If you have a stroke or heart attack the outcome will be much worse , your quality of life much less if you are not at an ER or Hospital as quickly as possible. If the Bridge is up, If the Bridge is up if traffic makes that narrow lane impassable you may survive, but how disabled, how impaired. We always thought nothing really bad could happen. Sandy happened and we now know how vulnerable we can be. Should we wait for ThE Fire .The building collapse , the gas leak, the next catastrophe and then demand a Hospital and ER. Or should we demand to be prepared with the Money already allocated by FEMA arranged by Senator Schumer to be used in Long Beach to Build us a Hospital on our Barrier Beach Island. The name of the game you are telling us to continue to play is Russian Roulette. I do not like the odds. For so many years I laughed at the forecasters of doom regarding the perils of life on a Barrier Beach island . Then Superstorm Sandy. I still want to live here. But I want to know in an Emergency there is a Hospital built , stronger, higher, better, with updated standards .we deserve no less.

Remember Governor Cuomo’s administrator said LBMC could not reopen after hundreds of millions in repairs. I’m a life-long Democrat who is voting for candidate Teacher in the Primary as my own little protest against Cuomo. Even the Times refused to endorse Cuomo.

Recently several points have been made regarding Gov. Cuomo’s integrity, which I will not detail here since I can’t cite independent sources as proof. However, I can state that under his administration the NYSDOH has forced the closure of several hospitals in areas ripe for development. Since 2010 St Vincent’s Medical Center in Greenwich Village; LICH in downtown Brooklyn, very close to Barclays Center and Metro Tech; Penninsula Hospital in the Rockaways; LBMC right here at home.

And what a shock – they are ALL situated on extremely valuable real estate and some of his heaviest donors are realtors, developers, etc. According to CapitolNewYork.com and The Times Union large real estate donors wre the targets of the Moreland Commission, which he summarily shut down.

Now, I can’t state categorically this pattern affects the closure of our hospital, leaving us with no more than a Doc in a Box, with business hours that banks don’t even keep any more, but it surely makes me wonder. So, I too am looking very closely at Zypher Teachout and Tim Wu as my Democrat choice. Their platform appears to align more closely with my idea of Progressive Democrats and make Cuomo seem more and more like a DINO.

Tim Wu is one of two candidates running for Lieutenant Governor in the Democratic primary. He is a Law School Professor. He is running against a woman Hochul hand-picked by the Albany Dem bosses. She is a life-long politician from Western New York.

This Primary is one of the few elections in memory where your vote can really make a difference and send a message that you don’t like the way NY State is being run.